Question
Attaching Exterior Doo
Hi Dave,
I have a 2002 PT Cruiser with a badly dented right rear door. I was fortunate enough to find a replacement door shell at a wrecker, which is the same factory colour and is in good shape except that the door guard/trim piece along the exterior bottom is badly gouged.
The trim piece from the original/dented door is pristine, so I was hoping to use it. My problem is that I'm not sure how best to attach it to the replacement door shell. I was surprised to discover that Chrysler chose to use an adhesive to attach this exterior part. I was able to cut the adhesive with a knife to remove the good part from the dented door.
All three of these pictures are of the same (original/dented) door and trim piece. As you can perhaps tell from the remaining adhesive on the door, the trim piece was attached all around it's perimeter by the adhesive, as it's hollow in the middle.
Can you tell me what I should use to attach it?
Many Thanks,
Andre
Calgary, Ab.
AnswerHi Andre!...You are definitley on the right track....Glad to hear you were able to purchase a door in the proper color...That will save you money, not having to spray the jambs, and if the exterior is in excellent shape, depending on your preferences as to color match, total quality of the exterior finish, etc...hopefully you will be able to just install the door...If the color match is not satisfactory, then you might consider taking it to a bodyshop, and getting the adjacent panels blended....As for the moulding you have removed, you have already found out that the door has a recessed area where the moulding is installed....If you can get away with out painting the replacement door, it sometimes can be a challenge to remove it without damaging the paint....What I do on these PT doors, is to close the door, take a butter knife, place it between the 2 tape strips at one end, and gently lift up the edge....Once done, just grab the moulding and simply peel it off slowly...You will obviously have to remove the existing tape from the door shell..I recommend re-installing the new moulding the same as factory....Remove the existing tape, and apply an adhesion promoter to the backside of new moulding...Check with your local Autobody/Parts supply store for this...I use one from a company called " Pro Form "...Part number is PF946....Once this is done, simply re-install a quality 2 side tape....3M makes an excellent product...Hope this helps....Please write back if you have any more concerns....Thanks....Dave
